4 ms·
Yes, but supposedly a laser needs a medium like air to stay coherent. So a weakly powered laser has shorter range in space than (clear) air.
by a3w 2y ago
Yes, but supposedly a laser needs a medium like air to stay coherent. So a weakly powered laser has shorter range in space than (clear) air.
- Tade0 2y agoCan you expand on this? I thought that without the usual effects in a medium that's filled with particles lasers achieve much greater ranges.
- eternauta3k 2y agoThis is incorrect, but please expand on this because I want to understand the misunderstanding.
- pjc50 2y agoOther way round: atmosphere diffracts light away.
- lightedman 2y agoYou have that in reverse. Atmosphere distorts a laser beam. You need to pump a ton of power to have a stable self focusing beam in atmosphere.
- pfdietz 2y agoAnd isn't this focusing itself unstable, leading to filamentation?